News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Les Munroe, ‘Dambuster’ Pilot Marks 70 Years Since Daring WW2 Raid

Les Munroe, ‘Dambuster’ Pilot Marks 70 Years Since Daring WW2 Raid

‘Older people still recall the grim days of 1943 and remember the good news – when that was a rare commodity – that Germany’s massive dams were breached by an elite squadron of British…

Mighty River Float Raises $NZ 1.7 Billion

Mighty River Float Raises $NZ 1.7 Billion

Some 110,000 New Zealanders bought shares in the Mighty River Power float, and around 68,000 of these may be first-time investors. However, the NZ Green Party claims that half the shares sold went to…

Child Poverty ‘Stains’ NZ’s Human Rights Record Says Amnesty

Child Poverty ‘Stains’ NZ’s Human Rights Record Says Amnesty

Amnesty International blasted New Zealand for its high rate of child poverty, and its poor treatment of female domestic violence victims and asylum seekers. The condemnations came in Amnesty’s 2013 Global Report on Human…

Indonesia Seeks Better Trade Balance with NZ

Indonesia Seeks Better Trade Balance with NZ

Indonesia’s deputy Minister of Trade has called for New Zealand to evolve into a ‘true partner’ that will help Indonesia solve its problems, writes Ruth Le Pla for stuff.co.nz.  Speaking at an Indonesia/New Zealand business…

Reserve Bank’s Intervention Marks ‘New Direction’ in Currency War

Reserve Bank’s Intervention Marks ‘New Direction’ in Currency War

The Wall Street Journal uses the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s recent action to bring down the NZ dollar as an example of the ‘new direction’ in what it calls the global currency…

Bamiyan Fears for Future with NZ Troops Gone

Bamiyan Fears for Future with NZ Troops Gone

‘There are New Zealand soldiers, so there is no Taliban. When they leave, the Taliban for sure will return,’ Ibrahim Chaman, a resident of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, told reporter Emma Graham- Harrison of The Guardian….

Royal NZ Navy Revisits Shanghai

Royal NZ Navy Revisits Shanghai

The Royal New Zealand Navy frigate Te Mana, commanded by Commander Andel, visited China on a goodwill visit for five days in May, according to The Peoples Daily. The visit began at the Yangtze…

Sir Don McKinnon is 2013’s Supreme World Class New Zealander

Sir Don McKinnon is 2013’s Supreme World Class New Zealander

Sir Don McKinnon is the Supreme Award winner of the 2013 World Class New Zealand Awards, says scoop.co.nz. The annual award, made by Kea New Zealand on behalf of NZ Trade and Enterprise, recognises…

Girl on Film All Year in Chicago

Girl on Film All Year in Chicago

New Zealand architect Emily Oakley has documented 365 days of her stay in Chicago one video clip at a time. In her first post of the series on 23 January 2012, Oakley…

Domestic Spy Stories Unfolding

Domestic Spy Stories Unfolding

“One of Kim Dotcom’s lasting legacies in New Zealand – beyond his already-legendary arrest, like something out of a film – is that the government may change the law to make it easier to…

Judith Collins to Study at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

Judith Collins to Study at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

New Zealand’s Justice Minister Judith Collins has been invited to study at the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She will join its Leadership Decision Making program from 23-28 June. Ms….

Mighty River Power Hopes the Public Buys It

Mighty River Power Hopes the Public Buys It

“Aerial shots of majestic dams and steaming geothermal power stations amid lush countryside form the backdrop for television advertisements promoting the initial public offering of the government-owned electricity company Mighty River Power,” Jonathan Hutchison…

Harvard University Farm Purchase Draws Mixed Reaction

Harvard University Farm Purchase Draws Mixed Reaction

Harvard University’s decision to buy a 1300-hectare Otago dairy farm drew mixed reactions from New Zealand politicians. Winston Peters, New Zealand First’s Leader, criticised New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office’s approval of the purchase. But…

Simon Upton Keynote Speaker at Future of Growth Forum

Simon Upton Keynote Speaker at Future of Growth Forum

Simon Upton, Environment Director for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and former New Zealand Minister for the Environment, is a keynote speaker at an upcoming European sustainability and economic development workshop….

Auckland City Lets You be the Planner

Auckland City Lets You be the Planner

Scientific American recently featured an article, from Fast Company, on the Auckland City Council’s Shape Auckland Housing Simulator. The simulator helps residents engage with Auckland’s Unitary Plan, a blueprint for the cities…

Ceremony Honours Remains of Chinese Goldminers

Ceremony Honours Remains of Chinese Goldminers

“When the steamer SS Ventnor sank off the in 1902, a Wellington newspaper listed its lost cargo in the language of the time as ‘5347 tons of coal consigned to the Admiralty…

Tim Groser out of WTO Race

Tim Groser out of WTO Race

A Latin American is set to head the World Trade Organization after the field for its next director general narrowed to Mexico’s former trade minister Herminio Blanco and Brazilian diplomat Roberto Azevedo, according to…

All That and Everest Too

All That and Everest Too

The British expedition to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, led by New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, was one memorable event of that year, “a summer sixty years ago when all seemed possible,”…

Call to Save the Diminishing Longfin

Call to Save the Diminishing Longfin

New Zealand longfin eels are the National Geographic’s “Freshwater Species of the Week.” The threatened creatures are New Zealand’s only endemic freshwater eel and are on a “slow path to extinction,” according to an…

No Justice nor Kings Permitted

No Justice nor Kings Permitted

New Zealand’s Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages has released an updated list of banned newborn names. In the past 12 years, the agency has had to turn down not one, not two, but…

NZ-Papua Training in Community Policing to Start in September

NZ-Papua Training in Community Policing to Start in September

The New Zealand government has allocated Rp 20 million (US$ 2 million) in aid for the Papua Community Policing programme, according to The Jakarta Post. The funding will see NZ police run a Training…

NZ Veterans Visit Korea for Armistice Commemorations

NZ Veterans Visit Korea for Armistice Commemorations

Hundreds of Korean War veterans, and bereaved families of fallen soldiers arrived in South Korea to attend commemorative events marking the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the three-year conflict, the Korean Herald…

Green MP Apologies for NZ Climate Change Failure

Green MP Apologies for NZ Climate Change Failure

New Zealand Green MP Kennedy Graham has apologised to Pacific leaders on behalf of New Zealanders who disagreed with their government’s decision not to sign the Copenhagen Agreement on reducing carbon emissions and alleviating…

NZ Faces Climate Change Disasters Influx

NZ Faces Climate Change Disasters Influx

Climate change is real, and its impact on small Pacific states will be severe. So severe that New Zealand and Australia need to prepare now for an influx of Pacific Island peoples fleeing from…

NZ Aid to Vanuatu Focuses on Shefa Province

NZ Aid to Vanuatu Focuses on Shefa Province

‘New Zealand has an important relationship with Vanuatu and Shefa Province … and we are keen to work with you to develop your Province, ‘New Zealand High Commissioner to Vanuatu Bill Dobbie recently told…

Miss Popularity Exceeds Half a Million Likes

Miss Popularity Exceeds Half a Million Likes

Sixteen-year-old Hawkes Bay student Jamie Curry has amassed over 500,000 likes on her Facebook page, Jamie’s World, which she began in July last year. Seven million people a week see videos, photos and status…

Merleen Thomas, Inspirational Airline Engineer

Merleen Thomas, Inspirational Airline Engineer

‘One of the most satisfying things about my job is seeing an aircraft that you inspected take off and just seeing it fly in the air,’ Merleen Thomas, Air New Zealand aircraft engineer, told…

Pasifika Education Achievement on the Rise

Pasifika Education Achievement on the Rise

There has been a 3.5% increase in the number of Pacific Island 16-year-old students achieving the NCEA Level 2 qualification, according to the latest New Zealand education statistics. Pauline Winter, Chief Executive of New…

NZ Told to Stop Fatty Food Exports

NZ Told to Stop Fatty Food Exports

Nauru, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue and Samoa all rank in the 10 most obese nations on earth, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Obesity rates in all these Pacific nations exceed 80%….

Pacific Leaders Choose Sustainable Development

Pacific Leaders Choose Sustainable Development

Pacific leaders from 18 nations have rejected a call from the World Bank and New Zealand to free up trade, loosen regulation and shrink their public sectors, according to the Samoa Observer. Instead, a…

Right-Wing Danish MP Labeled ‘Ignorant’ About Maori Culture

Right-Wing Danish MP Labeled ‘Ignorant’ About Maori Culture

Marie Krarup, a right wing Danish MP, offended New Zealand Maori by describing their traditional welcome as ‘uncivilised and grotesque’, says Richard Shears in The Daily Mail. The Danish MP, in New Zealand with…

Maori King’s Gift to Chairman Mao Loaned Back to New Zealand

Maori King’s Gift to Chairman Mao Loaned Back to New Zealand

‘The smallest is as a great as the largest’, said Chairman Mao when given a Maori cloak by New Zealand filmmaker Ramai Te Miha Hayward in 1957. Chairman Mao was replying to Ramai when…

650 Million Chinese Receive Offer to Study in New Zealand

650 Million Chinese Receive Offer to Study in New Zealand

A New Zealand education documentary is to screen on Chinese television to a potential audience of 650 million. Entitled Dragons in the Land of the Long White Cloud, the two-part series aims to attract…

New Zealand’s Lamborghini Connection

New Zealand’s Lamborghini Connection

Bob Wallace, originally from New Zealand, became Lamborghini’s test driver in 1964; he was instrumental in the founding of the Italian car company. For most devoted fans,” The New York Times’ John Lamm writes,…

Williamson’s Speech a Marriage Equality Great

Williamson’s Speech a Marriage Equality Great

Speaking in support of the Marriage Amendment Bill, National Party MP Maurice Williamson delivered what some are hailing as “one of the greatest speeches ever delivered at a marriage equality debate.” After warming up…

Devotedly by Her Side

Devotedly by Her Side

A New Zealander, known only as Kate, who cared for the late Lady Margaret Thatcher, would read to the former British prime minister and keep her mind going in her final days, according to…

NZ Parliament Passes Same-sex Marriage Bill, Breaks into Song

NZ Parliament Passes Same-sex Marriage Bill, Breaks into Song

New Zealand has become the 13th country to legalise same-sex marriage, completing a social revolution that began with the decriminalisation of homosexuality 27 years ago. After two hours of debate and heart-warming speeches from…

Speed Stargazing over Tongariro

Speed Stargazing over Tongariro

Amateur Taupo videographer Bevan Percival has captured “breathtaking” time-lapse film showing the star-packed night skies and landscapes of the volcanic Central Plateau over a six-month period. PetaPixel writes: “Shot using a…

Hard to Fathom

Hard to Fathom

“Stand humbled” at the exhibition ‘Whales: Giants of the Deep’, a show which originated at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and is now on at the American Museum…

New Territory

New Territory

New Zealand could adopt Maori names for its two main land masses after the New Zealand Geographic Board found that “North Island” and “South Island” were not official names under legislation, despite their common…

Timothy McFarland: ‘Unrivalled Teacher’ and Expert on Medieval German Literature

Timothy McFarland: ‘Unrivalled Teacher’ and Expert on Medieval German Literature

Hamilton-born Timothy McFarland taught medieval German literature ‘with passion to generations of students,’ at University College London. ‘If the impact of a great university teacher is on the horizons they open up and the…

Tomb of biscuits

Tomb of biscuits

Wellington artist Kingsley Baird is building a tomb of Anzac biscuits depicting World War I soldiers to be exhibited in Europe. Baird, an associate professor at Massey University’s College of Creative Arts, said the…

Samoan wins first ever NZ Pacific Scholarship Award

Samoan wins first ever NZ Pacific Scholarship Award

Outstanding Samoan student Epifania Afano’s winning of the first ever New Zealand Pacific Scholarship Academic Achievement Award was recognised by the Samoa Observer. Epifania is a received her award at Victoria University, Wellington. Epifania…

It’s the Joy that Always Wins Out

It’s the Joy that Always Wins Out

New Zealand mountaineer George Lowe, the last survivor of the 1953 British expedition that conquered Everest, has died in Ripley, England aged 89. Hastings-born Lowe played a crucial part in the party’s success, displaying…

Scrimp No More

Scrimp No More

New Zealand’s favourite breakfast spread, Marmite has returned to supermarket shelves for the first time in over a year, after shortages caused by the Christchurch earthquake. “You’ve rationed, you’ve scraped, you’ve survived marmageddon – and…

Otara’s Pasifika cultures and Te Aro’s vibe impress

Otara’s Pasifika cultures and Te Aro’s vibe impress

Intrepid Age travel writer Louise Hawson and her daughter, Coco, have just finished a year-long journey around 52 of the world’s suburbs. Auckland’s Otara and Avondale, and Wellington’s Te Aro were on the list,…

Little Bit Ahead of Everyone

Little Bit Ahead of Everyone

Lynda Topp, one half of New Zealand’s beloved comedic country music duo, The Topp Twins, has made history as the first-ever lesbian to appear on the cover of New Zealand’s weekly Woman’s Day magazine….

Biblical Proportions

Biblical Proportions

In his column for the UK Sunday Times, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson writes: “If you were God and you were all-powerful, you wouldn’t select Bethlehem as a suitable birthplace for your only child…

New Zealand suffers ‘most widespread’ drought in 30 years

New Zealand suffers ‘most widespread’ drought in 30 years

New Zealand is suffering its most widespread drought in 30 years. Climate scientists are warning that New Zealand may need to change its approach to farming as a result, according to the Washington Post….

Equality for Economic Progress

Equality for Economic Progress

Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New Zealander Helen Clark, said the UN must not backtrack on women’s reproductive rights and that women must have access to health services. Speaking…

Columbia and NZ ‘Strategic Relationship’

Columbia and NZ ‘Strategic Relationship’

President Juan Manuel Santos of Columbia and Prime Minister John Key discussed a ‘strategic relationship’ and a possible free trade agreement, writes Joey O’Gorman in Columbia Reports. John Key’s visit to Columbia was the…

Chile and NZ Sign Agreement on Science

Chile and NZ Sign Agreement on Science

President Sebastián Piñera of Chile has signed a new trade agreement with the visiting Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, writes Elizabeth Trovall of The Santiago Times. The agreement promises shared innovation in…

Mexico, NZ Commit to Stronger Trade Relations

Mexico, NZ Commit to Stronger Trade Relations

Prime Minister John Key says he and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto want stronger trade relationships between New Zealand and Mexico, following talks in Mexico City. President Nieto and Prime Minister Key agreed a…

Bird-watching Masterpieces

Bird-watching Masterpieces

Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans is recommended as a “must have for those with an interest in the birds of New Zealand or in bird…

Southern wild

Southern wild

Mount Cook and the Mackenzie Country feature in the March/April issue of the Australian Geographic. “Mt Cook lies within the Southern Alps, a series of mountain ranges stretching along the entire South Island. The…

Militant on the Mainland

Militant on the Mainland

“It sucks to be a possum in New Zealand,” according to The Atlantic’s Rachel Gross. “Cars swerve to hit you. Guns point toward you. People feed you little green pellets that taste like cinnamon;…